For many years it has been known that iodine is an excellent decontaminating agent for killing biologic impurities in water and other liquids that are to be made suitable for imbibing. Thus, while iodine is readily available in the form of the element, itself, or in the form of a salt such as potassium iodide, its use particularly in apparatus intended for usage by individuals, has been limited not so much by its lack of effectiveness but by the unpleasant odor and taste that accompanies its use.
Efforts have been made to overcome the unpleasant, indeed noxious odor that accompanies the use of iodine in decontaminating procedures. The result of one such effort is U.S. Pat. No. 7,517,537, which issued on Apr. 14, 2009 to Kathy L. Gottlund as assigned to Puritek, Inc., the disclosure of which patent is incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. The Gottlund patent recognizes that different nylon polymers combine with iodine to form iodophors at different rates, and that the so-formed iodophors dissociate at different rates. That patent posits a solution to the problem of iodine capture as iodophors by utilizing as a sequestering agent a nylon polymer selected from the group consisting of nylon-6, nylon-6,6, and nylon-4,6 from which to form iodophors that will reduce the distaste and off color of solutions where iodine that has been used as a purification agent.
Even with such knowledge, however, it has become apparent that existing water purification apparatus, either large scale or on a lesser scale for personal use, involve a compromise between the delivery of sufficient lethality for rapid disinfection of the contaminants in the water, and the generation of noxious or even toxic residues and odors that are present during the iodine disinfectant process. There is usually a tradeoff between utilizing sufficient purifying agent to completely decontaminate the liquid to be made potable, while at the same time achieving a purified product that can be consumed, even relished by an individual.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple and effective apparatus for decontaminating a liquid such as water while at the same time providing an effluent that will be substantially free from noxious odors and taste and will be readily potable.
It is another object of our invention to provide such an apparatus that will be economical in acquisition and use, and that will be portable and enable an individual to use it without having to add or mix chemicals.
It is still another object of our invention to provide such an apparatus that can easily be assembled and disassembled so that, should the need arise, parts thereof can be renewed or substituted without requiring replacement of the entire device.